Amazon Is Suing Users That Leave ‘Fake’ Product Reviews

Amazon Is Suing Users That Leave ‘Fake’ Product Reviews

Have you ever been put off buying products online because of a poor review? Well Amazon are taking a stand against what it believes to be fake reviews that tarnish the company’s reputation.

Amazon is suing 1114 users for posting “false, misleading and inauthentic” reviews, in many cases suspecting a fee was accepted for the service.

And it seems they may well have a strong case given such review services are widely available on the web, including on sites such as fiverr.

fiverr

In their complaint to King County Superior Court Amazon says it is taking action to protect its customers.

The complaint read:

A very small minority of sellers and manufacturers attempts [sic] to gain unfair competitive advantages by creating false, misleading, and inauthentic customer reviews for their products on Amazon.com.”

Adding:

While small in number, these reviews threaten to undermine the trust that customers, and the vast majority of sellers and manufacturers, place in Amazon, thereby tarnishing Amazon’s brand.”

The legal action said: “Amazon is bringing this action to protect its customers from this misconduct, by stopping defendants and uprooting the ecosystem in which they participate.”

Furthermore a report by the Sunday Times alleged that the identities used by fake reviewers are often stolen from unsuspecting web users.

It’s not often a corporation gains mass support for taking legal action against individuals, but in this case it is hard to argue with wanting accurate product reviews, particularly so as the Competition and Markets Authority estimates that £23bn of UK consumer cash a year may be influenced by such posts.

Kieron Curtis

An NCTJ Journalist with an MA in Sports Journalism, Kieron is an experienced social media journalist who has worked in the industry since 2015. His experience includes work with ITN, the MEN, WISH/WIRE/TOWER FM, and 8:50 Sports Digest... not forgetting his time at ASDA.